Essay Writting - Grammar Principles

English 101 Grammar Principles

Answer why question to test your thesis and see if your thesis is good. “I want to convince/persuade the reader that …..”
- You cannot have a pros and cons for thesis

Grammar
Punctuation
- rhetorical fragments, short emphatic sentence should not be used in formal writing (ex. Best.Night.Ever. or Bigger and Better)
- the comma (most troublesome) can change the entire meaning of a sentence

4 Rules for use of Comma:
1) before words like BUT, YET, OR , AND, FOR, SO, NO in the middleof the sentence (Coordinating conjucntions) (FANBOYS is good acronym for these words)
- joins two independent clauses
- if it’s a short sentence like “ I like bread and butter” you would not put a comma (you don’t really need it but its good to use it)
2) In a series so like a list (‘I like bread, jam, toast, and coffee) if you don’t put the comma at the last point after toast you can assume that you put toast and coffee together
3) After introductory/transition words/clauses (ex. However, he did not… or Furthermore, the study…)
NOT AFTER ALTHOUGH AND BECAUSE (so subordinate clauses)
4) Transitions if in the middle of the sentence around parenthetical (non-essential) remarks (ex. The case, nevertheless, was closed”)
- in some cases when you pause in a sentence (usually put comma) in the sentence but not usually the test, grammatically if you don’t put the comma before “overall” (in example) sentence then it would be considered incorrect
“The class was, overall, the best”< --- INCORRECT
“The Sens lost, however, they are 11-2 this season” (test by removing transitional word)
- if you’re having to force two sentences together then it is most likely that it is incorrect

Names of comma errors and what they mean
- Sentence Fragment
- if the subject is in the second independent clause then it is important to put a comma before the conjunction, but if not then it becomes optional to place comma before “but”

- Comma splice
- Placing a comma where a period is needed
- you can place a conjunction in place of the misplaced comma or you can simply place a period
- can use semicolon, but semicolon is basically like a period but weaker: Joins two independent clauses that are closely related

Independent clause vs dependent clause: you can add stuff to independent clauses but generally short
- dependent clause: depends on an independent clause

Run on sentence: like a coma splice except it forgets the comma (tries to force together two sentences w/out punctuation)
- opposite of a fragment

Colons and Semicolons
- Semicolons (;)
- can be in place of a period or a coordinating conjunction
- you can use commas with sentence that have a semicolon
- can be used to separate complicated things in a list

- Colons (:)
- can be placed in a list , introduce a list of some kind
- COMMON MISTAKE ALERT: never put a colon beside a verb if its introducing a list, you can use it if you use a modifier such as “the following”
- Must occur at the end of an independent clause

-Apostrophe (‘)
- no contractions in academic papers, always use the full form
- used ONLY when you want to show possession/genitives
-tricky cases
- if you were pluralizing the name such as Jones we can put “the JONESES house” but if it’s a single person then you put “Mr. Jones’s house”
- If its plural then you don’t need the second “s” after the apostrophe (ex. the students’ papers)
- if there’s no possession involved then you don’t need an apostrophe regardless of the possession
- the children’s playground or childrens’?
- 's ONLY if possession is meant
- Its/It’s (Its is the possessive form…ex. the book is good, but its index is weak)
- never use apostophes with numerals (such as 1990’s ---> 1990s)

-Agreement and Plurals
- agreement: when the subject/ subjects or verb/verbs match up
Subject: what the sentence if about or the doer
Verb: the action
- Revision(SINGULAR) of their views(SHOULD BE SINGULAR) about the markets and averages are mandatory

-Pronouns: I, you, he, it ,they, them
- AVOID THEY THEIR THEM WHEN NOT PLURAL (ex. Each of the student hope to follow in their teachers footsteps (Remove “Each of”)

-I/me (which is correct- depends)
- Bw you and I, They want you and I to work on this, the teacher invited my partner and I to dinner) ALL WRONG
- replace with “you and me”
Subjecttive: I, you, she, he, they
Objective: me, ….
- “He gave the book to John and I”
-test by doing he gave the book to I (it sounds wrong so replace with john and me)

Who/Whom
- Who is subjective (DOES SOMETHING)
- Whom is objective (RECEIVES)
- answer it like a question- whom and him, whom did you give it to, I gave it to him (not her) so this is correct

- WHEN WRITING CONJUNCTION (YET, BECAUSE, SINCE…etc. NO comma afterwards, ONLY before)
Your, you're, their, they're
Million dollar comma: Rogers ans subsidiary example: secons comma in paragraoh can make the
Thursday, May 10, 2012: Lecture 4
Week 4 a) Dangling Modifiers, Paragraphs, Introductions
May 10 b) Workshop

Dangling modifier: not clear what this phrase or clause is actually modifying, a phrase or clause that does no make reference to anything
- ex. Going home, the walk was slippery WRONG
- Going home, I found the walk slippery

- ex. After vacuuming the rug, the cat threw up all over it WRONG
- After Nick vacuumed the rug, the cat threw up all over it

- Make sure that whatever you are referring to is clear otherwise you will have a dangling modifier

BODY PARAGRAPHS
Paragraphing: Every paragraph should begin with a topic sentence
- Thesis statement
- the topic sentence should announce to the reader this is what this paragraph will be doing, mini thesis for the paragraph
- tell the reader what the paragraph will entail in full detail
- Facebook example (the topic sentence is more towards the end, first sentence is used a s filler)

- Topic sentence should be at the top of the paragraph to be straight forward
- Without the topic sentence, the paragraph will suffer because of a lack of coherence
- Coherence is how the entire paragraph relates and fits together
- do not put in sentences that do not relate to the thesis

- 1 idea per paragraph is ok if it’s a short paper, but when it’s long paper
- Paragraph length: 5-8 sentences is a good length
- do not begin or end a paragraph with a quotation
- exception to topic sentence rule is the first or introductory paragraph

INTRODUCTORY PARAGRAPHS:
Topic sentence of the this paragraph should come at the end
- upside down triangle: start off with general going into the more specific and then hit your thesis
- avoid sweeping philosophical statements
- ex. Since the beginning of time… humans have always wanted to…today’s society is…
- do not start with shocking, anecdotal or quotations,
- academic writing should be predictable
- KISS: Keep it simple, stupid
- Beware of intro statements that are too broad/general
- and don’t begin your article with your thesis (too abrupt)
Thesis at the end (funnel metaphor) intro leads your reader into the topic
a) Define the topic and say why it matters
- avoid engaging the reader, you can be interesting but don’t try to be cute or shocking, assume the reader is already interested
- avoid long intros, a decent paragraph should be about a fifth of your paper

CONCLUDING PARAGRAPHS: if the conclusion reminds the reader of the thesis, it is good (DO NOT COPY PASTE), in different words remind the reader what the thesis was
- not supposed to grab/surprise your reader
- academice/argumentative papers are very predictable
- write in conclusion but when time to print you delete it
- conclusion is regular triange
Dos and dont’s:
- Thesis should be restated but not word for word
- DO NOT introduce anything new (no witty statistic or new argument or examples)
- Avoid the temptation to be overly philosophical (random predictions or quotes)
Keep this cheeky formula in mind:
- Intro: tell’em what you’re going to tell’em
- Body: Tell’em
- Conclusion: Tell’em what you told’em

- with every paragraph you have, ask yourself so what (make sure you have your thesis)
- and how does this relate
- this paragraph supports the thesis by doing this
- just acknowledge the opposing point of view somehow
- shows you’ve thought of everything you say and what others may think
- bring up the opposing point of view briefly and then show the reader why you’re still right ---> this will strengthen (Do not go into it too much---> this will make your paper weaker)

Transitions for next class

Tuesday, May 15, 2012: Lecture 5
Week 5 a) Research: resources and skills
May 15 b) Reading: TBA

- Transitions make connections between sentences and ideas, tell the reader where you’re going
- give a signal to your interlocutor
- nothing grammatically wrong with two sentences but semantically (something regarding the meaning) needs adjustment
- helps in the case of opposition, thrust of the meaning, intent clearer

- antecedents and ambiguity, revisited
- words like it and this need antecedents (to be able to recognize what these words are referring to

Modifiers: misplaced or squinting (bring the modifier as close as possible to the thing its modifying ex. - Priscilla only took one test today - Priscilla took only on test today
- ONLY is probably the most commonly misused modifier

-Proper tone
- think you cant have “you” without an “I” (and we don’t use “I” in academic paper)